Survey: Small businesses anticipate a happy holiday

Small business retailers are anticipating a happy holiday with ringing cash registers, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by FedEx Office.

Four in 10 small business owners (43 percent) expect to see higher revenues this holiday compared to last, while 66 percent say they are hopeful about the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Despite the overall optimism, small businesses are still concerned about the economy (63 percent), as well as attracting new customers (58 percent) and competing against big retailers (45 percent). Small business retailers plan to highlight discounts and promote themselves with quality signage and marketing to help address these concerns. In fact, 45 percent of small business retailers agree that their marketing and promotional activities increase during the holiday season.

Along with the seasonal increase in customer traffic comes a spike in pressure on small businesses, with one-third of those surveyed saying they feel stressed about the upcoming holiday season. Small business retailers say that running a business during the holiday season carried the same or more stress as: finding the perfect gift for your partner (68 percent), going to the mall during the holiday months (65 percent) or getting every gift wrapped (60 percent). One surprising finding: one-quarter (23 percent) of small business retailers report that running their business during the holidays is less stressful than spending a week with the in-laws.

“FedEx Office is committed to offering stress-free solutions to help small businesses succeed during this critical sales period,” said Brian Philips, president and CEO of FedEx Office. “With products and services including cloud printing, direct mail, flyers, brochures, posters and banners, small businesses can create sales and marketing materials professionally and easily.”

FedEx Office offers a wide variety of signage and marketing materials for small businesses.

FedEx Office, in conjunction with Ketchum Global Research & Analytics, worked with Braun Research to conduct the telephone survey of 500 small business owners who employ five to 99 employees, generate over $100,000 in annual revenue, and whose primary industry is retail. The margin of error is +/- 4.4 percent, and results are reported at the 95 percent confidence level.